A countryside tradition that highlights customs of the more rural areas of Japan, Matsu-age festivals are held in three outlying villages in Kyoto during the month of August. This year the Kyoto Fan team headed to a village about an hour north of Kyoto called Hirogawara to take part in their Matsu-age, which has been carefully preserved by the local people for centuries as a ritual to commemorate local fire deity Atago Daimyojin and pray for good crops and the health of the villagers.

Held annually on August 24th, Hirogawara's Matsu-age begins around 8:30 at night. In order to hold the festival a log of Japanese cedar is used to construct a tall pillar about 20m high with a large bundle of kindling on the top. Over the course of the festival the local men hurl flaming torches up at this pillar trying to light it on fire, bring it crashing to the ground, and then stoke the remaining flames until they finally die out in the darkness. Returning back to your modern lives after this timeless celebration from rural Japan will be a challenge!
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